We are proud to say we are the only Royal College in the UK which welcomes healthcare professionals across the range of medical and surgical specialties.
We are also home to dentists, members of the extended dental care team, travel medicine specialists, and podiatrists across the world – a truly multidisciplinary organisation working together as one.
14,458
members in 87 countries including1,044
new Fellows and Members welcomed into our College community in 2018Founded in 1599 by surgeon Peter Lowe, we remain committed to inspiring, nurturing and supporting our diverse and inclusive community of members in their quest to deliver the highest possible standards of care for their patients.
In 2018
we ran 16 exams in 43 centres around the world3,842
people sat our exams, 53% of them passed*Our examinations unit supported and delivered the Intercollegiate Specialty Fellowship examinations on behalf of the four Dental Faculties in the UK and Ireland in the following specialties:
700+
new Fellows and Members celebrated with us at our Admission Ceremonies300
people joined us at our College open evening£70,546
was awarded by the College in 2018 as grants and scholarships to32
outstanding peopleWe play an integral role on a number of intercollegiate groups and are an active voice for our members in influencing and shaping medical, surgical and dental curricula, training and assessment to ensure the best outcomes for patients.
We launched a series of President’s Leadership Lectures covering a range of topics including Leadership and Action in Global Health, Gross Negligence, Manslaughter and Culpable Homicide, and Enigmata ad Infinitum.
10,000+
people signed up our new opt-in GDPR compliant mailing list40%
average open rate, average click rate is 5.84% (that’s way above industry average of 2%)On 31st January, we recorded our busiest website-day on record with 8,624 page views on our website. This was due to our article on the Hadiza Bawa-Garba v GMC.
Our members are the College. We are a community of professionals committed to delivering excellence in healthcare. Many give their time freely to develop curricula, set exam questions, and contribute to consultations, to ensure the highest standards are set for the next generation of health care professionals.
We launched a new heritage website with c800 collection items now accessible digitally and we welcomed 1,400 people to 19 Heritage events and our weekly coffee conversations.
And we opened a new exhibition...
The exhibition space in the heart of the College’s St Vincent Street building is further enhanced by a new exhibition titled ‘Our Science and Art: Visualising the Human Body’. The exhibition uses the College’s amazing heritage collections to show how visualising the human body has benefited medicine and surgery, from 16th century anatomy illustrations to digital imaging. Linking to the College’s founding principles and drawing on Glasgow’s rich contribution to imaging (for example x-ray and ultrasound), the exhibition is a visual feast and stimulating talking point for all visitors. Our innovative digital heritage work provides enhanced access, via screen-based display in the College and on our Heritage website.
In 2018, 1599 at the Royal College welcome 11,000+ visitors to the College at more than 200 events including:
7
Charity
33
Corporate
6
Education
6
Fellows/Members
52
General
8
Government
62
Medical
6
Private
9
Weddings
The fourth annual Medicine 24 event was held on 13th and 14th September 2018, in the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. The popularity and size of the conference has led us to seek venues outside College, and the Concert Hall did not disappoint. Over two days we welcomed 350 delegates and 39 faculty members to a vibrant event, which provided a comprehensive update in acute medicine for the general physician. The programme covered a wide range of commonly occurring medical problems which the receiving physician sees on a regular basis, and gave state of the art education on best practice.
In addition to traditional platform presentations, this year a series of interactive workshops was run covering ECG interpretation, imaging, hypertension and NIV which have evaluated well. The information from the delegate feedback is crucial in planning the following year’s conference.
Our two keynote speakers were Professor Dame Parveen Kumar and Bernadette John. Professor Kumar gave an impassioned lecture entitled “Caring for the Profession” highlighting the important responsibility that healthcare professionals have to look after themselves and their colleagues. Bernadette John, a Consultant in Digital Professionalism gave us a sobering reminder of the pitfalls of Digital Media, as well as their undisputed benefits.
It’s clear from the support for Medicine 24 that we are providing a highly regarded educational event for the generalist. It has been my privilege to have been involved in the development of the conference and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organising committee and College Education staff for their commitment and innovation. I am sure it will continue to go from strength to strength.
Save the date for Medicine 24 on 19th and 20th September 2019.
On 17 April 2018 we celebrated 150 years since Joseph Lister delivered a public lecture on his theory of antiseptic surgery, in what is now the Alexandra Room of the College’s St Vincent Street building. Together with his articles in The Lancet of 1867, this lecture helped revolutionise medical science.
Our Listermania event celebrated this world-changing innovation, focusing on Lister and the city of Glasgow. The event allowed us to strongly connect our building, our members and our visitors, with this momentous piece of history. In addition, we channelled the important local context of Lister’s innovation, which begins with a story about care and compassion in difficult circumstances. Our event host was Greig Trout, founder of 101 Things to do when you survive and ambassador of the College’s HOPE Foundation.
The event was a culmination of a six month creative project with our Artist in Residence, the poet Marianne MacRae, supported by the Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities. The residency allowed us to combine surgical history, medical science, poetry, drama, art and design – all which combined to make our heritage more accessible, engaging, and fun! The day began with a performance from P6 pupils from Garnetbank Primary School, who had been working with Marianne on a series of creative workshops.
The evening included readings from the poetry collection Marianne wrote during the residency – Joseph Lister is my New Flatmate. Pioneering transplant surgeon Pankaj Chandak (King's College London) showed us that Lister’s influence and inspiration is keenly felt by those at the vanguard of surgery and medicine in the 21st century. Finally, the audience were entertained by best-selling author Lindsey Fitzharris, discussing her award-winning book The butchering art: Joseph Lister’s quest to transform the grisly world of Victorian medicine.
Despite how it can often feel in the middle of a busy clinic, or at the start of a full theatre list, consent is more than obtaining a signature on a piece of paper. It is a process that is part of patient-centred care and begins with finding out what matters to the patient, identifying what options are reasonable – including the option of no treatment – and helping the patient decide which option suits them best.
Consent is more than obtaining a signature on a piece of paper.The decision the patient makes may not be the one that you would have made but, if the patient has been kept at the centre of the process, it should be the right one for that individual patient at that time. When the moment comes to sign the consent form, if a patient has been fully involved in the process and enabled to weigh up the different options and their benefits and risks – risks that must be transparently presented – then truly informed consent will have been given. Our approach to consent has to be individualised for each patient and it is with this in mind that we present resources that can aid you in moving towards practising in this way.
That’s why the College published our new online resource on medical consent in October 2018. Written by Dr Catriona Barlow, our Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellow for 2017-2018, the guide is a practical resource to help guide all medical professionals arounds this often complex issue.
HOPE is the latest iteration of the College’s charitable mission and gives our membership the opportunity to express their ambitions for tackling the barrier to healthcare locally and internationally
- Mr Mike McKirdy
The HOPE Foundation is the philanthropic fund of the College, fundraising and making grants to charitable projects that improve access to healthcare for those in disadvantaged circumstances. With a Foundation Manager appointed in April 2018, the inaugural HOPE Foundation Board convened in June 2018 establishing a programme for fundraising activity and grant making.
In May 2018 the fund received its first legacy which enabled the Board to call for grant applications earlier than expected, resulting in 16 formal applications being considered at the end of October. The HOPE foundation Board was delighted to award a total of £33,737 to seven projects:
Thanks to personal donations and fundraising events, the fund secured a total of £49,000 in 2018 and plans to disperse more grants in Spring 2019.
A campaign to ensure the Scottish Government’s new policy included bold and ambitious action to change the food environment around us. We called for action on promotions, advertising, and portion size of foods high in fat, sugar and salt. A successful campaign that saw the Scottish Government commit to action on all of these areas.
As trends shift and lifestyles evolve, we are increasingly becoming a nation of people who consume food prepared out of home (OOH). This may be in a sit-in restaurant, a drive-through burger bar, a fast-food takeaway, a sandwich shop, a coffee shop or delivered.
There are a number of ways the OOH sector can become healthier than it currently is, while continuing to do what it does best – offering tasty food with convenience.
Obesity Action Scotland’s campaign focused on the need for action in the following areas:
In August this year we launched the results of our survey of a number of outlets selling chips in Glasgow. This found that portion sizes were on the increase and that an average portion of chips was half the recommended calorie intake for an average woman. This report received significant media and political attention and is clear evidence of the need for change in the out of home sector.
In 2018 we launched a Scottish alliance of organisations who signed up to core aims of working together to influence obesity prevention policy.
The College’s Buddy Scheme, in partnership with the West of Scotland Deanery, is now in its fourth year of operation. The Buddy Scheme provides an informal senior trainee mentor to each more junior core trainee, ensuring they have access to careers advice and guidance, complementing the role provided by their more formal educational support.
Over thirty pairs of medical and surgical trainees have been matched this year, with more to be confirmed. Introductory meetings were held in College in August, with a follow up event in October, at which the senior trainees also enjoyed a personal development session on mentorship.
The scheme has been so successful, that a request has been made from as far away as the Peninsula Deanery in South West England to set up a similar collaboration for surgical trainees there. This is currently being progressed with the help of our surgical regional advisor in North Devon and it is anticipated that this scheme will be launched early in 2019.
The College’s Trainees’ Committee has a new leadership team, with Mahua Chakrabarti and Jack Fairweather taking over the reins as Chair and Vice Chair respectively in May 2018. One of the first tasks was to increase the number of trainees engaged on the Committee and set out an agenda of work for the coming year. An Open Evening was held in November which attracted healthy interest from local trainees and has resulted in over 20 firm expressions of interest, either to join the Committee as full members, or to contribute to the work of its many focus groups.
Trainees’ Committee members come from all training backgrounds and levels, including undergraduates, foundation trainees, Medical and Surgical core/speciality trainees and others.
The committee informs and advises on all aspects of College work and life, in particular on key issues for trainees. Recently this work has included trainee welfare and support, educational courses and conferences, public affairs and curricula and training.
Trainees interested in joining the committee can find out more by emailing traineecommittee@rcpsg.ac.uk
The College Annual Financial Statements for the financial year, 2017/18, were approved by our auditors, Scott-Moncrieff, our Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and Council in August 2018.
The College experienced a deficit of £981K for the year. This is in line with the 5 year plan approved by Council in April 2017, which supports investment in the infrastructure of the College, enabling structured growth to bring the College back into a surplus position by 2022/23.
Fixed assets have increased by £2.31M, following the refurbishment of our building on St Vincent Street and this saw the installation of our Davies E-Learning Centre which will enhance our digital capability, combined with the creation of our Macewen Skills Centre.
Our income has grown by almost £1M over the last two years, with subscriptions income increasing by almost 10% and both our income from our Education and Exams activity growing by 37%.
As our income grows, so does our expenditure and our key challenge for the next few years is to hold these costs as flat as possible. Our salary costs are especially high, rising by almost £0.5M during the year due to being a service driven organisation and the investment in our teams to deliver growth. The current investments in key systems should assist in this target being met through process efficiencies.
Depreciation costs have now increased, following the capital investment in buildings and systems over the last few years, while the stock market valuation of our portfolio held fairly flat compared to last year’s spectacular increase.
2017/18 Group Income
£6,647,814
2017/18 Group Expenditure
£7,678,874
The College balance sheet remains robust, while we continue to utilise our assets to support growth of our charitable objectives and to support our Fellowship and Membership in their professional journey.
Click on the icons below to know more about the College governance.
Office Bearers |
|
President |
Professor David Galloway |
President Elect |
Dr Jackie Taylor |
Vice President (Medical) |
Professor Hazel Scott |
Vice President (Medical) |
Dr Hany Eteiba |
Vice President (Surgical) |
Mr Andrew Henry |
Vice President (Surgical) |
Mrs Alison Lannigan |
Vice President (Dental) |
Professor Graham Ogden |
Honorary Secretary |
Dr Richard Hull |
Honorary Treasurer |
Dr Rajan Madhok |
Honorary Librarian |
Mr Roy Miller |
Registrar |
Dr Roderick Neilson |
Faculty Deans / Representatives |
|
Dean of the Faculty of Travel Medicine |
Mrs Jane Chiodini |
Dean of the Faculty of Podiatric Medicine |
Professor Robert Ashford |
Secretary of the Faculty of Dental Surgery |
|
Dean Elect, Faculty of Dental Surgery |
Mr Andy Edwards |
Ordinary Councillors |
|
Physician |
Dr Stuart Hood |
Physician |
Dr Brian Murphy |
Physician |
Dr Graeme Tait |
Physician |
Dr Moe Oo |
Physician (who obtained full registration with the GMC of the UK less than 10 years before the date of nomination) |
Dr Arrianne Laws |
Surgeon |
Professor Colin McKay |
Surgeon |
Mr Stephen Mannion |
Surgeon |
Mr Jonathan Hannay |
Surgeon |
Mr Drummond Mansbridge |
Surgeon (who obtained full registration with the GMC of the UK less than 10 years before the date of nomination) |
Mr Alex Vesey |
Regional Councillors |
|
Scotland North (Grampian, Highland, Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles) |
Professor Stuart Pringle |
Scotland East (Tayside, Forth Valley, Fife, Lothian, Borders) |
Mr John Camilleri-Brennan |
Scotland West (GGC, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire & Arran, Dumfries & Galloway) |
Dr Martha Quinn (temp) |
Physician working outwith Scotland |
Dr Asif Naqvi |
Physician working outwith Scotland |
Dr Douglas Thorburn |
Surgeon working outwith Scotland |
Mr Andraay Hon-Chi Leung |
Surgeon working outwith Scotland |
Professor Abhay Rane |
Advisory Co-optees |
|
Faculty of Public Health Medicine representative |
Dr Emilia Crighton |
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine representative |
Professor Matthew Walters |
Chair, Lay Advisory Board |
Mrs Elizabeth Condie |
Chair, Audit & Remuneration Committee |
Mr Mark Allison |
Global Health Director |
Mr Mike McKirdy |
International Director |
Dr Hany Eteiba |
Chair, Trainees’ Committee |
Ms Mahua Chakrabarti |
As of October 2018.
Office |
Name |
Dean / Vice President (Dental) |
Professor Graham Ogden |
Dean Elect |
Mr Andy Edwards (from Oct 2018) |
Vice Dean |
Professor Jeremy Bagg |
Vice Dean |
Dr Christine Goodall |
Secretary |
Dr Helen Patterson |
Ordinary Councillor |
Dr Beth Burns (to Oct 2018) |
Ordinary Councillor |
Dr Colwyn Jones |
Ordinary Councillor |
Dr Heather MacRitchie |
Ordinary Councillor |
Dr Donald McNicol |
Ordinary Councillor < 10 years GDC registration |
Ms Vicki Greig (to Oct 2018) |
Regional Councillor outside Scotland |
Ms Norah Flannigan |
Regional Councillor outside Scotland |
Mr Nathan Lee Brown |
Regional Councillor Scotland North (Grampian, Highland, Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles) |
Mr Graham Orr |
Regional Councillor Scotland East (Tayside, Forth Valley, Fife, Lothian, Borders) |
Mrs Antoniella Busuttil Naudi (to Oct 2018) |
Regional Councillor Scotland West (GGC, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire & Arran, Dumfries & Galloway) |
Dr Andrew Forgie |
Co-opted Members |
|
Director, Dental Education, Training and Professional Development Board |
Mr James Boyle |
Director, Dental Examinations Board |
Mr Andy Edwards |
Interim Director, Dental Membership Services Board |
Dr Andrew Forgie |
International Advisor |
Prof Raman Bedi |
Lay Advisor |
Ms Veena Soni |
Co-opted Member |
Dr Gautham Sivamurthy |
Office |
Name |
Dean |
Mrs Jane Chiodini |
Vice Dean |
Dr Sam Allen |
Secretary |
Prof David Ross |
Ordinary Member |
Mrs Jennifer Anderson |
Ordinary Member |
Professor Ron Behrens |
Ordinary Member |
Dr Kathryn Geary |
Ordinary Member |
Dr Andrea Rossanese |
Associate Member |
Dr Fiona Taylor |
Associate Member |
Mrs Dawn Coley |
Co-opted Members |
|
Director, Education, Training & Professional Development |
Prof David Ross |
Hon Clin Reg, MFTM exam |
|
Health Protection Scotland representative |
Mrs Shirley Marshall |
NaTHNaC representative |
Miss Lynda Bramham |
International Development Group representative |
Dr Jon Cossar |
Lay representative |
Mr Alan MacDermid |
Office |
Name |
Dean |
Professor Robert Ashford |
Vice Dean |
Mrs Christine Skinner |
Secretary |
Dr Catherine Hayes |
Ordinary Member |
Mr Julian Livingstone |
Ordinary Member |
Mr David Wylie |
Ordinary Member |
Mr David Dunning |
Ordinary Member |
Professor Jim Woodburn |
Co-opted Members |
|
Associate Honorary Clinical Registrar (MFPM) |
Ms Pamela Price |
Director of Communications |
Mr Matthew Fitzpatrick |
Director of Education, Training and Professional Development |
Professor Sarah Curran |
Affiliate Representative |
Vacant |
Lay Representative |
Vacant |
We are proud to be a worldwide community of healthcare professionals which is open and welcoming to all.